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Yilmar Morono of Teays Valley Christian School, middle, was named the Gamer of the Week by Teays Physical Therapy Center. Pictured are, left to right, coach Matt Davis, Morono and Cindy Skiles of TPTC.

Gamer of the Week awarded to Yilmar Morono

Oct. 19, 2012 @ 12:00 AM

Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. and The Putnam Herald are pleased to present this week's 'Gamer of the Week' award to Yilmar Morono of Teays Valley Christian School.

Yilmar Morono. If you've never heard the name, you have now, and you should remember it because it goes with an incredible story of survival and the human spirit. Just a few short years ago, Yilmar was a struggling homeless child on the streets of Medallin, Columbia wondering where his next meal would come from. By the grace of God, he was plucked from the streets by a missionary program called Open Arms Foundation and brought back to the States to live with a host family right here in West Virginia.

Head Boy's Soccer Coach, Matt Davis of TVCS had this to say about his senior soccer player, "Yilmar's story is very long but I can summarize it by saying that he's always beaten the odds. He's someone who is not taking his opportunity to be here at this school or on the team lightly. This is his first year playing organized soccer and he only started playing three years ago. He has used his natural God-given talent and has worked his tail end off to become a very fundamentally sound soccer player."

Coach Davis went on to say, "As an individual he is someone who excels in the classroom as well. He taught himself English and really gives his best effort at anything he does. It's for this reason he's come out of being a homeless street kid in Medallin, Columbia to a flourishing student-athlete here in Teays Valley, West Virginia."

As of last week, Yilmar has led his team to regular season record of 16-3 and a #2 overall seed in the 2012 West Virginia Christian Athletic Tournament in an attempt to defend their 2011 WVCAT Title.

"I think the main thing is I play with a lot of passion every time I'm on the field. I love soccer, so whenever I play I try to do my best but at the same time I want my teammates to succeed as well. I love competition, so whenever we play a game I enjoy myself whether we win or lose," said Yilmar. "My motivation is that even though I really never played organized soccer, I have a lot of pride and love for my school and for all the people who come and support us. So I want to play well and help our team win so we can make my host family and our school proud. The opportunity for me to actually be playing soccer here at this school is a dream for me. It's been such a blast being able to play for them and to build the friendships that I've been able to create with my teammates."

Yilmar hopes to play soccer at the collegiate level at Marshall University or West Virginia Tech but also values the education he will get much more highly.

"My goal is to go to college to get a degree so I can better myself with a college education and succeed in life," he said.

Please look for other local area high school athletes to be named next week's Gamer of the Week sponsored by Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. & The Putnam Herald.